ID :
138607
Sat, 08/21/2010 - 03:52
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/138607
The shortlink copeid
Steep hike in H-1B, L1 visa fees come into effect: US
Lalit K Jha
Washington, Aug 20 (PTI) The steep hike in H-1B and L1
visa fees, which would cost Indian IT firms an additional USD
250 million annually, has come into effect from August 14, the
US said Friday.
The US move comes in the midst of protests by India
that the increase incorporated in the Border Security Bill is
discriminatory against Indian companies and needed to be
amended.
The hike came into effect from Saturday last after
President Barack Obama signed into law the Border Security
Bill that allows certain measures to tighten security along
the US-Mexico Border.
Now, an additional fee of USD 2,000 for certain H-1B
petitions and USD 2,250 for certain L-1A and L-1B petitions
will be charged and the rates will remain in effect till
September 30, 2014, the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) said.
These additional fees apply to petitioners who employ
50 or more employees in the United States with more than 50
percent of its employees in the United States in H-1B or L
(including L-1A, L-1B and L-2) non-immigrant status, it said.
Ignoring India's concern over some provisions in the
Bill, the US Senate had last week passed the legislation after
which Obama gave his assent.
The bill approves USD 600 million plan to tighten
security along the US-Mexico border by adding another 1,500
agents, deploy more unmanned vehicles to stop the flow of
illegal immigrants and drug mafia.
The law will hit top Indian firms like Wipro, Tata,
Infosys and Satyam, which use hundreds of these visas for
their employees coming to the US to work at their clients'
locations as technicians and engineers.
USCIS Friday said it is in the process of revising the
Petition for a Non-immigrant Worker (Form I-129), and
instructions to comply with the new law.
In the statement, USCIS said it recommends that all
H-1B, L-1A and L-1B petitioners, as part of the filing packet,
include the new fee or a statement of other evidence outlining
why this new fee does not apply.
Indian Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar had last
week said the provisions of the Border Security Bill is
discriminatory against Indian companies and asked the US to
amend it.
Shankar lodged an official protest to the US Trade
Representative Ambassador Ron Kirk on August 9, about five
days before Obama signed the bill.
"We feel that the 'pay for' provisions of the Bill are
not in keeping with the substantive cooperative agenda which
the two governments are pursuing. We would ask that those
provisions of the Bill that discriminate against companies of
Indian origin may be suitably amended to create a level
playing field for all companies," she said. PTI LKJ
MRD
Washington, Aug 20 (PTI) The steep hike in H-1B and L1
visa fees, which would cost Indian IT firms an additional USD
250 million annually, has come into effect from August 14, the
US said Friday.
The US move comes in the midst of protests by India
that the increase incorporated in the Border Security Bill is
discriminatory against Indian companies and needed to be
amended.
The hike came into effect from Saturday last after
President Barack Obama signed into law the Border Security
Bill that allows certain measures to tighten security along
the US-Mexico Border.
Now, an additional fee of USD 2,000 for certain H-1B
petitions and USD 2,250 for certain L-1A and L-1B petitions
will be charged and the rates will remain in effect till
September 30, 2014, the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) said.
These additional fees apply to petitioners who employ
50 or more employees in the United States with more than 50
percent of its employees in the United States in H-1B or L
(including L-1A, L-1B and L-2) non-immigrant status, it said.
Ignoring India's concern over some provisions in the
Bill, the US Senate had last week passed the legislation after
which Obama gave his assent.
The bill approves USD 600 million plan to tighten
security along the US-Mexico border by adding another 1,500
agents, deploy more unmanned vehicles to stop the flow of
illegal immigrants and drug mafia.
The law will hit top Indian firms like Wipro, Tata,
Infosys and Satyam, which use hundreds of these visas for
their employees coming to the US to work at their clients'
locations as technicians and engineers.
USCIS Friday said it is in the process of revising the
Petition for a Non-immigrant Worker (Form I-129), and
instructions to comply with the new law.
In the statement, USCIS said it recommends that all
H-1B, L-1A and L-1B petitioners, as part of the filing packet,
include the new fee or a statement of other evidence outlining
why this new fee does not apply.
Indian Ambassador to the US Meera Shankar had last
week said the provisions of the Border Security Bill is
discriminatory against Indian companies and asked the US to
amend it.
Shankar lodged an official protest to the US Trade
Representative Ambassador Ron Kirk on August 9, about five
days before Obama signed the bill.
"We feel that the 'pay for' provisions of the Bill are
not in keeping with the substantive cooperative agenda which
the two governments are pursuing. We would ask that those
provisions of the Bill that discriminate against companies of
Indian origin may be suitably amended to create a level
playing field for all companies," she said. PTI LKJ
MRD
